Asiad football coach highly likely to lead Olympics team

The mood is ripe to appoint coach Lee Kwang-jong as the coach of the national football team for the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

As Lee led the Korean team to make a dramatic win against the North Korean team at the Incheon Asian Games, high-ranking officials of the Korea Football Association including its technology committee head believe it as natural for Lee to carry on his coaching position of the Olympic team. The technology committee will hold an assessment meeting of the Asian Games soon and name Lee the coach for the national football team of the next Olympics.

As for now, Lee is the best candidate as well as a prepared leader who has experience coaching all age groups. As a full-time coach of the Korea Football Association, he started leading the national football teams under age 15 and 17 in 2001. In the 2009 FIFA Under-17 World Cup, he led the Korean team to qualify for the round eight. From 2011, Lee led the national team under age 20, which also advanced to quarterfinals in 2013.

His teams were shadowed by the national team`s outstanding performance made in the 2002 World Cup Korea/Japan and the London 2012 Olympics. He gained spotlight, however, at the latest Asian Games. Lee`s optimum player appointments as well as outstanding strategies helped the Korean team to win victory in 28 years since the 1986 Seoul Asian Games.